Addendum
by Vecturist
Summary: Tag to Grace Under Pressure. Slight SG1 crossover. Carter reads what happened to McKay in the puddlejumper.


Title: Addendum

Author: Vecturist

Rating K+

Setting: Season 2

Spoilers: Episodes of SG-1 McKay's been in, Off the Grid, Descent, and Grace under Pressure

Disclaimer: Not mine. The universe would be very different if I ran it.

Archive: Just ask

Summary: Tag to Grace under Pressure (there can never be too many!). Carter reads what McKay experienced in the downed jumper.

A/N: An idea I've been kicking around set into motion by dr. dredd, and imskysmom with her Vancouver con reports. Can't wait for the episode commentary. Apologies if something like this already exists. Oh, and if TPTB want to use this, be my guest. Just let me play a tech in Atlantis for the day.

"Col. Carter?" General Landry's baritone boomed on the other side of the women's locker room door.

"All clear General," the woman in question answered after a quick scan of the small room. "You can come in," she added after a moment's hesitation. After the expedition today, she'd never been so glad to get into BDUs.

The usually gruff general warily poked his head in, for the moment resembling an errant schoolboy sneaking a peek at the girl's locker room. He recovered quickly, pulling out a thin folder with more than the usual 'classified' stamps on it.

"What's this," asked Carter, reaching for the proffered set of documents.

"You remember the recent report from Atlantis about the submerged puddlejumper?" The General didn't immediately release his grip. "There's a little more to the story, and apparently it concerns you. I thought it best when I initially reviewed it to omit this part from the general SGC mission briefing. It's a little personal, and was not completely relevant to matters at hand. Still, I thought you should see it.

Col. Carter looked puzzled. "Me?"

"Apparently Dr. McKay hallucinated you, while he was trapped. Claims you helped save his life." With that, General Landry released the file, leaving Colonel Carter in a state of momentary shock, images of giving McKay mouth to mouth running through her head.

Dr. Rodney McKay. The man had the nerve to call her a dumb blonde, and lived to see another day. No one had the nerve to do that, since she was what, eleven. Well, she did tell him to suck on a lemon. Jack probably would have simply shot him. She put the file down. She could well imagine what McKay's reaction would have been to the outfit she'd worn to meet with the Lucian Alliance; she didn't want to know what his mind could come up with if he thought he was dying. Eventually, though, curiosity got the better of her and she picked up the file and began reading.

She had never liked the color pink, thought it was too girly, but it could have been worse. Actually, come to think of it, she was a little miffed. Rodney thought death was imminent and he imagined her in jeans and a track jacket? The man had no imagination, even when he let the hallucination try to 'seduce' him. At least he had the wherewithal to admit something he'd always known subconsciously: Carter was smarter. He'd admitted he was petty, arrogant, and bad with people; couldn't trust them, that he was the only one who save himself. He tried his brilliant solution, and made the situation worse, just like 'she' had predicted, just like every other time they had worked together before. Carter smiled and made a mental note to let Daniel tease the astrophysicist about that fact, if he ever got to Atlantis.

Or maybe not, the man had been under a bit of stress at the time. Carter carefully put the file down and tried to sort out the emotions tumbling through her mind like puppies. Yes, McKay was one of the most arrogant and offensive scientists she'd ever had the pleasure of dealing with. There were days when she got his reports that she didn't think Pegasus was far enough away. Yet, part of her liked, will, maybe liked was too strong a word. She respected that he wasn't afraid to trumpet his ideas, regardless of the consequences. The few occasions they'd worked together it was sort of nice to bounce ideas off someone without having to explain everything in basic detail. Well, he did roll his eyes like Jack, for the exact opposite reason – her smarts couldn't compare to his brilliance. So he'd hallucinated her while trapped in a sinking puddlejumper. She knew what that was like, trapped under thousands of feet of freezing water, the threat of death imminent. At least she hadn't been alone, but she had an inkling how he felt. Still she wasn't sure if she should be flattered or cringing by what McKay's mind had hallucinated. Still, he had admitted she was smarter, but had he meant to publicly? She'd have to send him a little note in the next databurst to Atlantis. Heaven forbid if she had to work with the man again, she'd need to hold this over him.

FIN

Comments? Criticism?


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